History

An Alumni-Managed Endowment

A small group of petroleum industry leaders, including Harold Hoots, Tom Sherman, Brick Elliott, J.R. Pemberton, and Tom Pike, established the Petroleum Investments Committee (PIC) in 1953. Believing in the potential of Stanford to make still greater contributions to the Earth sciences, they wished to enhance the financial resources available to the school. They began by raising gifts of cash, royalties, and other property from alumni and friends of the university. The committee then put their experience, expertise, and contacts to work finding and managing investments in oil and gas royalties for the benefit of Stanford Earth Sciences.

In 1980, Dean Allan Cox and Professor Al Horn recruited Bert Murphy to serve as the new Chairman of the PIC. Two years later they enlisted Frank West to serve on the committee and head a fundraising effort for the purpose of creating a second and more flexible Petroleum Investments Fund. Key alumni and friends joining West, Murphy, and Horn in this effort were Tom Cantwell, Tom Carlson, Hal Dean, Jack Hundley, Basil Kantzer, Warren Kourt, Bill Travers, Bill Whitley, and later Bill Quackenbush. Through the work of these PIC members and others who have followed them, the principal value of the Petroleum Investments Funds has grown to nearly $54 million.